Hurricane Isaac moving slowly across New Orleans

At least 5,000 people are now in shelters in New Orleans as Hurricane Isaac pummels the city with strong winds and drenching rain.



The Louisiana city is being affected by the storm exactly 7 years after Hurricane Katrina.



The city has closed its new floodgates in a bid to protect it from the effects of high waters brought by sustained winds of up to 80 miles per hour.



Officials say sea water has already breached a levee in a town to the south of the city.



There are also reports of serious flooding and people stranded by rising waters in the Braithwaite area, just across the Mississippi river from metropolitan New Orleans.



Dr. Byron Johnson, one of many Jamaicans living in Louisiana told the Gleaner/Power106 news centre this morning that although he lives about 180 miles away from New Orleans he left his home and went further in-land as a precautionary measure.



Meanwhile forecasters say the slow-moving storm could take 12 hours to travel as far as Baton Rouge, a town 70 miles to the north-west of New Orleans.



Officials have urged residents who have not evacuated to stay in place until high winds dissipate.